The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) said it was responding to those concerns following reports that some people were getting hold of the drugs without thorough checks, and some online pharmacies have set targets for how many prescriptions should be processed per hour.
“Delivering good care whilst maintaining the highest levels of patient safety is the number one priority for pharmacies and we hope this updated guidance will help to protect the safety of patients needing weight-loss injections and other higher risk medication,” he said.
The new rules say the prescriber must independently verify “weight, height and/or body mass index”, adding: “By ‘independently’ we mean that the prescriber uses a different way to verify the information provided to them by the person.”.
Weight-loss jabs to have tougher checks over fears people with eating disorders obtaining prescriptions The pharmacy regulator is working with other bodies to jointly tackle inappropriate advertising and promotions of the drugs.
The GPhC said it was working closely with both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to jointly tackle inappropriate advertising and promotions.
